Windows 7 : Reasons not to upgrade
Cyber Cynic Steven J.
Vaughan-Nichols has come up with a list of seven
reasons not to upgrade to
Windows 7. Here's his list (in brief);1) Windows 7 still has all the security of a drunken teenager in a sports car...
2) Windows 7, no matter how you buy it, is expensive. Does your budget have the extra cash to buy a new and improved taskbar!?
3) Upgrading from XP to Windows 7 will require that you do a clean install. That means everything on your hard disk gets vaporized during the 'upgrade.' ...
4) You'll need to reinstall your old programs and device drivers. Then, you'll need to update all those programs and drivers. Doesn't that sound like fun? Doesn't that sound like hour after hour per PC of migration work?
5) XP already works ... I'll be darned if I can think of a single, significant change that you'll get from running Windows 7 instead of XP.
6) If you're an XP user you'll need to learn a new user interface. ... if I'm a CFO or CIO, I want to know what I'm going to get out of re-training people to the new interface and I'm left thinking there's really nothing game-changing about the Windows 7 UI.
7) Finally, if you have an older PC, forget about it. I know there are people who swear that Windows 7 will run on low-powered PCs. Yeah, right. I've used Windows 7 on netbooks. It wasn't pretty.
Bottom line. If you want something that's really better than XP, and you're willing to go to the trouble and expense of moving from one platform to another, you'll get real improvements like better security and low up-front costs, from a desktop Linux like SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) 11 or Ubuntu 9.04. Windows 7 is certainly better than Vista, but XP... not so much.
Check out the link above for the full details. And by the way, Ubuntu 9.10 is out today ...
Comments
I couldn't agree more, Geoff, as I type this comment on my newly upgraded Linux laptop (Ubuntu 9.10, Karmic Koala). Karmic is HUGE - such a breath of fresh air. It's only a minor upgrade to the previous version, 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope), but it feels smoother, faster, and slicker. Once you make the switch to Linux, you'll be kicking yourself that you didn't do it ages ago.
@Jeremy and @Adam Dawson - yes, you'll have to make a difficult switch to Linux *this time*, but *no more difficult than the upgrade to Win 7*. That's Geoff's point. He's saying, given the hassle of upgrading to the new Windows, you might as well switch to Linux. I couldn't agree more.
Henceforth, your life will be much cheaper, faster, easier and more secure. Linux FTW. People still running Windows are just to further sacrifice their freedom, be vulnerable to viruses and spyware, and accept hassles like software activation codes, client access licenses, DRM (Digital Restrictions Management), and various other anti-user "innovations" which for which Windows 7 is like an Album of Greatest Hits! If that's what you like, then welcome to it. Otherwise, leave the dark side and be welcomed into the light. :)
Posted by: Dave Lane | November 2, 2009 10:57 AM
Isn't there also an issue with drm'd media content becoming unusable with some transitions?
Posted by: Grant Paton-Simpson | October 31, 2009 1:18 PM
Even going from XP to Linux, you still need to
4) You'll need to reinstall your old programs and device drivers. Then, you'll need to update all those programs and drivers. Doesn't that sound like fun? Doesn't that sound like hour after hour per PC of migration work?
Wait... can you find the linux version??!!
6) If you're an XP user you'll need to learn a new user interface. ... if I'm a CFO or CIO, I want to know what I'm going to get out of re-training people to the new interface and I'm left thinking there's really nothing game-changing about the Linux....
Posted by: Jeremy | October 31, 2009 12:34 AM
What an idiot. I suppose he conveniently forgot that Windows 3.1 users had to learn a new user interface when Windows 95 came out.
Posted by: Adam Dawson | October 30, 2009 8:24 PM
Not in Linux you don't!
Posted by: Geoff | October 30, 2009 5:38 PM
He obviously forgot that Vista couldn't be upgraded from Windows 2000 either, so the situation with Windows 7 is exactly the same.
You'd still need to reinstall your programs and drivers no matter what OS you switch to.
Posted by: Alex | October 30, 2009 4:48 PM